Clean up slated for weekend
By Lori Mellinger editor@bullardnews.com
Bullard Mayor A.W. Hines said he wished more teenagers were like James Gardner. Gardner - who is actively involved in Bullard High School's Key Club - made a presentation at last month's council meeting proposing a joint venture to clean up and beautify the area between the high school and city hall.

The city struck an agreement with Gardner and his club members and the project is scheduled for this weekend.

But Gardner doesn't want to limit it to simply Key Clubbers.

"We want to work with the city and local businesses, too," he said. "We would like to make it a community-wide effort."

The council applauded his efforts and Bullard City Manager Larry Morgan said the city crew would be involved as well.

"We've pledged our crew's expertise on such things as handling heavy equipment that might be needed, and we're going to provide a dumpster, too," he said.

While Gardner and his group want to focus mainly on cleaning the two-mile stretch between BHS and downtown - a well-traveled route for on-foot high-schoolers - the Key Club encourages any and everyone to become involved.

"This is a fine project," Hines said. "We need more leaders like you."

Key Club sponsor Tabitha Hippler said the club picks a project each year.

"Each year the Texas- Oklahoma District board comes up with a project that they want to endorse and encourage Key Clubs in Texas and Oklahoma to participate in," she said.

Hippler said this year's project "Key Clean Up" encourages groups to do what they do best: serve their communities.

Clubs are given some basic guidelines, such as two hours per member . but other than that it's really up to each local club to decide how best to "clean" their communities.

She said the Bullard club has contract with TxDot for an adopted highway section, "so that's a given."

"But one of our faculty members suggested that the strip beside Houston street (the old rail bed) will become more dangerous for our students as spring approaches because the trail will be less visible from the road when the branches fill out," Hippler said. "We decided this would be a great way to serve both our community and school."

She too, encourages the rest of the community to get involved.

"We are really wanting this to be a community wide effort ... it can only benefit us all in the long run," she said. "We will even provide club members to businesses to help with the chores."

On the clean up weekend, the band will have its truck at the gazebo on Saturday for people to drop off garage sale donations.

"Residents can get involved as they clean out closets, garages and storage buildings.

For more information, call Hippler at 903-894-3272.

Get involved:

The Bullard High School Key Club invites the community to take part in an area-wide clean up this weekend. For more information, call Tabitha Hippler at 903-894-3272.